Once Upon a Prime - by Sarah Hart

 

Everything is connected to everything else. All the time. Every day.

This is my mantra. It frustrates me no end that University Administration thinks the humanities don't matter, and that they are somehow disconnected from the programs that teach "real job skills". Hart's book demonstrates "the wondrous connections between mathematics and literature". And it also demonstrates that smart people will see connections between things that might not be evident to others. It was a fascinating read which explained how math is used in some classic works including Moby Dick; Gulliver's Travels; Sherlock Holmes; and  Alice's Adventure in Wonderland. As well we find out why the numbers 3, 4, 7, and 12 figure (pun intended) so prominently in fairy tales. 

Interestingly, in this book about books, the first time a library is mentioned is very near the end. Hart describes the library in Jorge Luis Borges' short story "The Library of Babel". She admonishes readers to "pick up a book of his short stories without delay if you've never read him". And here I must make a confession. I have read "The Library of Babel" (in the original Spanish) with the specific intention of blogging about it here. I love Borges, and he was a librarian himself. The story though, so overwhelmed me that I didn't know where to start to write about it. So, with gratitude to Sarah Hart I use her words here to describe it

His story "The Library of Babel" features a mathematical oxymoron - a finite number of things that somehow have to fill a space that extends in all directions. The story is a first-person account of an inhabitant of the library - which is the universe. This "librarian" spends his life wandering the hexagonal rooms of the library, all of which are identically laid out, reading the books and trying to understand the meaning of the cosmos...

The library is an astonishing thing, says the librarian: it contains all possible books. Every book that has been written, that is being written now, that will one day be written, that will never be written, that has been started and abandoned, that has been banned, that has been lauded, that has never been imagined exists in the Library.

I highly recommend Hart's book (as well as Borge's short stories). And I want to believe that I was the first person to cite Hart's book (which was just published earlier this year). Read my article Utopia in the Stacks to see the citation.

Love in the Library - by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

In her Author's Note Tokuda-Hall tells the readers that this is the story of her maternal grandparents who met in Minidoka, a Japanese incarceration camp in Idaho. Tama (her grandmother) was the camp librarian, although "she didn't know how to be a librarian...In the camps people did the jobs that needed doing." Her grandmother had taken the job because "she liked books". George (Tokuda-Hall's grandfather) came every day to check out books. Tama questioned whether he could actually be reading all the long books he checked out. No, he wasn't reading them all. He was "only human". And the realization that she was the real reason he came every day dawned on her. Their love grew amidst their  whispers. 

George's "voice was so big it barely fit in the library..." Tama "held up her finger to remind him of the rules. They were in a library, after all."  

The Author's note also connects the story of Minidoka to current events. 

As much as I would hope this would be a story of a distant past, it is not. It's very much the story of America here and now. The racism the put my grandparents into Minidoka is the same hate that keeps children in cages on our border. It's the myth of white supremacy that brought slavery to our past and allows the police to murder Black people in our present. It's the same fear that brings Muslim bans. It's the same contempt that creates voter suppression, medical apartheid, and food deserts. The same cruelty that carved reservations out of stolen, sovereign land, that paved the Trail of Tears. Hate is not a virus; it is an American tradition.

Tokuda-Hall's author's note sparked controversy when Scholastic asked her to edit it in order to include the work in Scholastic's diversity-focused Rising Voices collection earlier this year. Tokuda-Hall refused and Scholastic ultimately issued an apology. More information about the request, Tokuda-Hall's response, and a link to the apology can be found in this article from Publisher's Weekly  

The Wishing Game - by Meg Shaffer

The description I read of this book before I listened to it was that it was like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but with books. That was pretty accurate. 

A gay hermit (Jack Masterson) who writes the wildly popular Clock Island series of children's books announces that he is writing another book after a very long hiatus. Furthermore, he announces that he is running a contest in which the contestants will be invited to his house on the real Clock Island and the winner will receive the only copy of the new book in existence to do with what they will. Lucy Hart is one of the lucky few invited to compete for the book. Her fervent wish is that she will be able to sell the book so she will have enough money to adopt Christopher, a boy in foster care. She gains more than she could have ever expected by the time the game is over.

My husband and I listened to this on audio. It was a good story, and of course featured some libraries. The story also alludes to the current wave of book banning, with Jack Masterson explaining why he has stayed in the closet. He doesn't want his identity as a gay man to prevent people from purchasing his books (or worse, removing them from library shelves).

This book is for everyone who is still waiting for their Hogwart's letter, or searching in the back of their closet for an opening to another world. 

Strange Arithmetic - by Kerrin Willis

In 1945 Maggie O'Callaghan discovers she's pregnant. The father of the baby is an Italian POW being held at Camp Myles Standish in Taunton, Massachusetts. The complications of this situation are many and the resolution is bad all around.

In 2016 Niahm Reilly really wants to be pregnant. The situation is complicated and the resolution turns out to be better than expected.

My husband and I heard this author speak earlier this year at An Unlikely Story Bookstore. We purchased both of the authors' books intending to read them together after we finished Margaret Atwood's recent book of Essays Old Babes in the Wood (which we had just started). Then we learned that Willis' book was our town's One Book One Community selection for this fall, so we moved it up to the top of the pile. We had not known that there was a POW camp nearby. We learned quite a bit of local history from reading this.

Niahm has a special place in her heart for libraries-her deceased mother was a librarian who'd bring her daughter to work with her. However, I cringed at the description of Niahm curled up under her mother's desk by her her "high-heeled feet". WTF?! What self-respecting librarian wears anything other than sensible shoes.

What I did over Banned Books Week

October 1-7 was Banned Books Week. In addition to reading a book about an attempted book banning (Answers in the Pages) I was busy educating my community about recent book banning efforts, as well as historical book bans. On Tuesday I began teaching a six-week session at Bridgewater State University's Senior College called Off the Shelves: A History of Book Banning. On Wednesday I led a discussion on campus about banned books with students, faculty, and staff in attendance. The highlight of my week was on Wednesday evening when I participated in a panel discussion at Bridgewater Public Library. The recording is available here:

Bridgewater Book Banning Forum 

It was also covered in the local newspaper.

Answers in the Pages - by David Levithan

Donovan Johnson's mother likes to read the end of books first, so she isn't surprised when she finishes the story. When she reads the last sentence of The Adventurers (the book assigned to her son's fifth grade class) she is sure the two main characters  (Rick and Oliver) are gay. The sentence reads:

At that moment Rick knew just how deeply he loved Oliver, and Oliver knew just how deeply he loved Rick, and the understanding of this moment would lead them to much of the happiness and adventure that came next.

Taking this single sentence out of context she begins calling other parents to express her concern. She takes Donovan's copy from him and issues a formal challenge to the book. All the students in Mr. Howe's class have to turn in their copies while a decision is being made. Fortunately Donovan had the forethought to check out the school library copy so he could finish the story for himself.

Donovan describes the scene in his classroom when the parents come to turn in their students' copies  of the book

There were other parents, like Mr. and Mrs. Fitzhugh (Allison's mom and dad) and Mrs. and Mrs. Pausacker (Kira's moms), who were explaining that they were not turning in their child's copy of the book, because they didn't believe that parents like my mom should have the power to choose what their own children read or didn't read.

Donovan uses the school library computer to send an email to the author of the book in the hope that the question of Rick and Oliver's sexuality will be settled. Donovan also lets the author know that the book would be on the agenda of an upcoming school board meeting.

There are three parallel stories being told in the book. In addition to Donovan's, we see some of Rick and Oliver's story in The Adventurers, and finally we see Roberto and Gideon, two fifth graders who discover their romantic attraction to each other without concern about what others are fighting about. 

The question of Rick and Oliver's romantic proclivities is never settled. And we are left with the question - Does it even really matter if Rick and Oliver are gay? 

  

Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003-2020 - by David Sedaris

When I read Sedaris' first book of diary entries (Theft by Finding) I lamented that he did not include enough about libraries and that I hoped that the second volume would include more. Alas, this 566 page work mentioned libraries a measly seven times. The first was the sad entry on January 11, 2005

The Guardian ran a story on Gerald Allen, an Alabama state representative who wants to ban books with homosexual characters. They can still sell them in shops, but he wants them out of schools and publicly funded institutions, like libraries and state universities. If the book presents a tragic homosexual, the type who suffers and then commits suicide, that's okay. He just doesn't want the happy kind, the ones who, in his words, "promote homosexuality as a healthy and accepted lifestyle."
Which one am I? I wonder.

Other uses of the library include:

• Waiting
• Taking a Citizenship Test
• As part of a tour (grandmother unimpressed that granddaughter wanted to see this)
• A place not to practice archery
• A place with "nothing but a coloring book and a box of crayons" - this would be a disparaging remark about George Bush (43)'s Presidential Library

My favorite was this: someone checking out a CD of  Lightnin' Hopkins' music wants to know "is that a person or a thing?" Sedaris is able to help where the librarian is not. The young man who checked the CD out kept asking himself "Does it matter?" And eventually returns to the librarian to ask "Does it matter?" "Definitely not" they librarian said. 

That's what I would have said, too.

I Have Some Questions for You - by Rebecca Makkai

I was intrigued by the description of this book because it reminded me of Adnan's Story which I recently read. The story of Adnan Syed's arrest, trial, and life sentence for the murder of a classmate was made famous on the Serial podcast. Because of the publicity brought on by the podcast, Syed's case was re-opened and he was subsequently found innocent. 

Makkai's book is a novel with a very similar plot. A young girl is found dead in her boarding school swimming pool and suspicions are on Omar Evans, an athletic trainer at the school. Omar is found guilty and a former student, Bodie Kane (a podcaster) brings new light to the crime many years later. Bodie questions whether the wrong person has been jailed. 

Bodie has returned to Granby School to teach a winter intersession on podcasting, when some of her students decide to do a podcast on Thalia Keith's murder, they start exploring new suspects, and ask new questions.

The school library is mentioned a few times. For instance: as a place to look up the word "lusty" in a dictionary, before one could simply go to dictionary.com to discover that it meant "healthy and strong; full of vigor"; as a place to do research back in a time when students didn't all have their own computers; a place where old yearbooks can be found; or where a schoolgirl in 1995 could borrow a map of Connecticut to find the location of the street in New Canaan where her crush lived.

The library held a special place in the history of the Granby school. Started in 1814 a young woman Arsareth Gage founded the school with twelve boys as students in a small schoolhouse. Samuel Granby built the library and chapel six years later. Ultimately Samuel Granby became a sugar daddy to the entire town.

For those on the lookout for Easter Eggs regarding the Syed case, Makkai includes a reference to "the girl whose boyfriend was definitely not working at LensCrafters that day".

Jumping off Library Shelves: A Book of Poems - edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins

 

In honor of Library Card Sign-Up Month this collection sings the praises of libraries, librarians, and of course library cards 

More powerful than

the smartest phone,

more powerful than a TV remote,

more powerful than a hundred apps. 

What You Wish For - by Katherine Center

 

When her former crush Duncan Campbell shows up as the new principal at librarian Samantha Casey's school she hardly recognizes the straight-laced stick-in-the-mud from the fun-loving goofball she knew four-years before. There was "nothing likable...to love". He was simply a "dickish boss". Well, you can guess how this plays out.

The story takes places in Texas at a private school where kids are voracious readers and check out 10 books at a time. Of course if it were a public school in Texas there would hardly be any books to check out of the library these days.

Principal Campbell has a Goldendoodle called Chuck Norris who he brings to campus for "security purposes". Chuck Norris turns out to be actually quite lovable, except for his nasty habit of eating books, which Duncan promises to pay for.

No big surprises in this one. A good end-of-summer read.

Book Lovers - by Emily Henry

I had high hopes for this book when I read the prologue. In it the narrator tells us that she is "the uptight, manicured literary agent, reading manuscripts from atop her Peloton", the jilted love interest in the rom com when the boyfriend gets sent to Small Town, USA and meets someone who is trying to save her family business. She's the one "you can tell [is] evil because her hair is an unnatural blond, slicked back à la Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, and also she hates Christmas decorations." 

I must admit I often think about this character when watching Hallmark movies. Always such an unsympathetic character, but the audience never really knows her. I always try to think of her as a multi-dimensional person and wonder what becomes of her. And I bet she ends up having a great life.

I picked this out to read on August 9 because that was National Book Lovers Day, so really I had no choice. 

The story takes place in the fictitious town of Sunshine Falls, North Carolina ("just a little ways outside Asheville") which also the location of Once in a Lifetime, novelist Dusty Fielding's surprise hit. Literary agent Nora (who has "a beautiful Dewey-decimal organized brain"), and her sister Libby decide to take a vacation there, where, of course there is a lending library, just like the book says (although apparently Dusty has never visited Sunshine Falls herself). The library is set to get Wi-Fi in the fall. It is a "hulking" three story building "of pink brick and gabled peaks". 

Nora and Libby attend the local community theater production of Once in a Lifetime in which a thirteen year old boy plays "Old Man Whittaker" opposite a grandmother playing Mrs. Wilder - the owner of the lending library.

A surprise awaits Nora in Sunshine Falls. Her nemesis Charlie (an editor) happens to be there as well. Romance ensues.

Charlie and Nora agree to meet at the library to discuss Dusty's new book. He tells her he'll reserve a room for them. "At my expression, he laughs. At the library Stephens. A study room. Get your mind out of the gutter.

Apparently Nora has read The Seal's Rebel Librarian and therefore understands the true purpose of a study room. They end up making good use of the study room, but stop short of going all the way.

When we finally do this, Nora", [Charlie] says, straightening away from me, his hands slipping my buttons back into buttonholes as easily as he undid them, "it's not going to be on a library table, and it's not going to be on a time crunch."...."We're going to do this right. No shortcuts."

Nora is surprised to learn that Charlie was held back in school. She tells him that "you put off this... academic vibe. I would've expected you to be, like, a Rhodes scholar, with a tattoo of the Bodleian Library on your ass." He tells Nora that he "spent half of middle school in the library and the other half in the principal's office for getting into fights...the only two places [he] felt like [he] had any control...

In the end, this book was just another rom com. It just had the pieces put together differently. And, yes, a family business does get saved in Small Town, USA (a bookstore, no less).

Sighting: In the wonderfully enchanting Netflix series Heartstopper bookworm Isaac (Tobie Donovan) is seen reading this work.

Adnan's Story - by Rabia Chaudry

 

I was vaguely aware of the Serial podcast when it first aired in 2014 but I didn't listen to it until about a year later after an old friend told me that the story was about people who had attended the same high school (Woodlawn High in Baltimore County) that we had. Although the events described in the first season of Serial took place many years after we graduated it still made listening to the podcast especially riveting for me. 

Woodlawn High has always had a tough reputation among the Baltimore County high schools. One of my most vivid memories is of walking into the girl's restroom in the immediate aftermath of a botched self-abortion. During my time there in the late 70s and early 80s, collectively we experienced a cross burning on campus, and the (off-campus) shooting death of a fellow student by another student. Unlike the students who attended Woodlawn in 1999, there were no counselors brought in to help us process either of these events. We were simply told not to discuss them (especially not with the press, who was all over). I saw the murdered boy's girlfriend in school the next day. It didn't even surprise me. My parents would have also told me to get my butt to school if my boyfriend had been killed.

Rabia Chaudry is a friend of Adnan Syed's family and in this book provides more information about Syed's trial for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Li. Although convicted, Syed has always maintained his innocence and last year was released after over 20 years in prison when additional evidence of his innocence was provided.

The Woodlawn branch of the Baltimore County Public Library was featured in the first episode of the podcast. Located adjacent to the campus of the high school it is an easy place to get to after school. Li's murder took place on the afternoon of January 13. Syed could not remember exactly where he was that day, but a fellow student (Asia McClain) remembered seeing him at the public library after school which would have provided the alibi that Syed needed. Unfortunately his lawyer never followed up on this information. Chaudry (herself a lawyer) explains more about how this crucial evidence was ignored, and tells of her own conversations with McClain.

Adnan's Story mentions the prison library in two different contexts: for legal research and also as a workplace.

Once, while he was assisting the prison librarian, she asked him to go drop off some books in her car. She handed him her keys and he walked out to the lot where the car stood. He was outside the prison, free and clear, in the employee parking lot. If he had wanted, he could have gotten in her car and driven away.

I selected this book as part of the University of Maryland Baltimore County's  (UMBC) Retriever's Read Bingo which includes a space to read a book by a UMBC author. While Syed and I are both Woodlawn High Alums; Chaudry and I are both UMBC alums.

Rabia Chaudry is co-host of the Undisclosed podcast.

Foul Play - the movie

 

When divorced librarian Gloria Mundy (Goldie Hawn) becomes unwittingly involved in a murder, Detective Tony Carlson (Chevy Chase) is assigned to protect her. Hilarity ensues.

Set in San Francisco this screwball comedy wouldn't be complete without a car chase scene involving steep hills. Also included at no extra charge: a domino-type collapse of bookshelves. I will say that the librarians in the film (all women) were serious about research, and I believe the film does actually pass the Bechdel test (albeit just barely).

I remember seeing this film in theaters back in 1978. I remembered virtually nothing about it except the opening scene featuring Hawn driving along the Pacific Coast Highway with the lilting tones of Barry Manilow singing "Ready to Take a Chance Again" as a soundtrack. 

The murder plot involves a group called The Tax the Churches league who plan to assassinate the Pope. While I would not advocate murder, I have to agree that it is past time to tax churches. As we see the Religious Right (and, frankly, left) trying to influence laws, and elections the IRS should seriously be looking into revoking some 501(c)(3) exemptions.

One of my husband's rowing friends mentioned that this film was what interested him in getting a houseboat (something he still dreams about).  Tony certainly has a nice one - a real '70s chick magnet with spiral staircase, dark paneling, and a bar. How could a young librarian resist?

When we decided to watch this we discovered it wasn't available on any of our streaming services (even for a fee). Our local public library to the rescue! Thanks to the Millicent Public Library in Fairhaven we were able to procure this on DVD - for free!

Summer Reading - by Jenn McKinlay

 

August is Read-a-Romance month! 

Romance is a genre I don't read a lot of, although I don't dislike it. There were no big surprises in this standard boy-meets-girl tale, except perhaps the simple twist that the librarian is Ben who is trying to woo Samantha (Sam). A quick perusal of my previous "Romance" posts indicate that in all other romances with a male librarian, the love interest was also male. In hetero romances the woman is the librarian. Of course since most librarians are women, it makes some sense. Male librarians are not quite as unusual as Samantha thinks - "Those had to be rare in the female-dominated library world, mythical even, like unicorns".

What Sam probably doesn't realize is that a man in a leadership role at a library is de riguer. Interestingly there is no real social commentary in this work about the fact that a woman did the work of the former (male) director without pay while he played on his computer. Likewise, when Ben takes off suddenly Em does his work (without additional compensation). In the end Ben returns, takes back his job, and (hooray!) all is well and right in libraryland with the man in his rightful leadership role.😏

Ben is in fact the interim director of the public library. He is able to take the job because he has the summer off from his "academic research library position at MIT". Really? if I had the summer off from my academic library position I sure as hell wouldn't step into a temporary position. I would simply enjoy my time off. 

Sam's best friend Emily (Em) is also a librarian. According to Sam she looks "very much the professional librarian" in 

a cute sleeveless sage green dress with a lightweight white cardigan over it...Her wavy red hair...tied at the nape of her neck...glasses...perched on the end of her nose as she peered...over the computer monitor.

One reason I don't read a lot of standard romance (or other chick lit) is I tire of the endless descriptions of what people are wearing, what their hair looks like, and other details such as how fabulous their kitchens are, that do nothing to move the narrative along. 

A dyslexic, Samantha has never enjoyed reading. She takes special joy in telling her bookish friends that "the movie was better than the book". Ben introduces her to the joy of audiobooks in the best way possible - he begins to read aloud to her. I must take this opportunity to say reading together is one of the things with which I credit my 36-year marriage. My husband (James) and I have been reading to each other since our earliest days together. It always gives us something to talk about, and sometimes gives us something to laugh about, too.

Our story takes place on Martha's Vineyard, a lovely place for a summer romance. Sam has been asked by her father and step-mother to stay with her half-brother Tyler (14 years her junior) while they (her parents) go on a tour of Europe. I am always excited to read a book about a library I've been to. James gave a coffee lecture there in February of 2020. Probably the last trip we took together before the pandemic shut down.

The library in our story is a busy place with programming that includes robotics camp and Samantha teaching a cooking class.

All in all, this was a fun summer read - standard plot points along with a lot of librarian stuff to critique

There's Something for Everyone at the Library

!Barbie Spoiler Alert!

My husband returned from a two-week trip to the Amazon last week so I took a few days off of work for us to spend together. When he asked what I'd like to do on Wednesday I told him I wanted to see the Barbie movie. Sporting his pink oxford shirt he purchased the tickets online and we set off our local theater (which thankfully is never crowded). We both thoroughly enjoyed the film.

I am always happy to see someone use a library in a film and Ken wasted no time finding one in The Real World to do research about the patriarchy. He then used the information to brainwash the Barbies to turn  Barbieland into an unrecognizable dystopia. 

The same week that I saw the Barbie movie I revisited a favorite book from my childhood - Fuzzies: A Folk Fable for All Ages. First published in 1971 this hippie-dip book tells of a beautiful valley where everyone is happy all the time (because they have Fuzzies). Their beautiful utopia is disrupted by the evil Juanita the witch who, after doing some research at the library, comes up with a plan to convince the people of the valley that there is a shortage of Fuzzies. The sharing stops and the hoarding begins.

If a person based their opinions of libraries only on these two works, they might believe that libraries are bad things. But never forget, libraries are for everyone. Ken took advantage of what he learned at the library, but  there was nothing stopping Barbie from accessing the same information. I would argue that it would have been to her advantage to read the same things Ken did. Knowing what you are fighting against provides a strong advantage. As for the people of the valley, I expect that keeping strictly to themselves and never learning about what else was going on in the world worked to their disadvantage. Books can be mirrors or windows. 

Saha - by Cho Nam-Joo

 

In a fictional dystopian place called Town people live in a caste system based on class and privilege. Those who are fortunate enough to be born into the L category are full citizens and live a Brahman-like life. Sahas are the Untouchables. In between are the L2s who can only stay on renewable work visas. Sahas are named for the building they live in. A place where community matters and odd jobs are the only way to earn money. The economic system depends on the three classes, even as Sahas are not officially recognized citizens. Town is run by a nebulous Council of Ministers that manipulates the Sahas and uses them for nefarious research. When Woomi, a girl who is a test subject for this research (aka "the Master Key because she survived a Covid-like pandemic in utero) starts looking for answers she discovers that her data is being stored in a library but is not quite sure how to access it. Breaking into the library she finds a Fahrenheit 451 - esque data storage system wherein people are trained to memorize the data. Woomi talks to her "data storage unit" who tells her that it is "painful to know so much and have to retain it all." Furthermore, "accuracy plummeted" when "the data storage unit realized the information was not being accessed fairly or used in productive ways".

The book is a bit frustrating in that it simply stops, rather than ends. There is no resolution.

The reviews I read all indicated that this work was not as good as the author's other work Kim Jiyoung: Born 1982, but I liked it better.

Forever - by Judy Blume

 

Prior to the release of the much-awaited film version of Are You There God It's Me Margaret I watched the Judy Blume Forever documentary which featured interviews with the beloved author as well as many who grew up reading her books. In discussing the controversial Forever (who could forget Ralph?) one of the featured interviewees indicated that she realized re-reading the book as an adult that Michael really was a "dick". Gauntlet thrown. I had to read it again myself. I expect it has been over 40 years since I read it, but I know I read it several times as a teenager. My single Mom was cool about it and I didn't have to hide under the covers to read it. 

Reading it as an almost-sixty-year old it is clear that Michael is rather controlling, and the awkward sex scenes were definitely more cringe-worthy than I remembered. I laughed when I read the description of Katherine's mother as five foot six inches and 109 pounds and how concerned she was that her thighs were getting flabby. I also am five foot six, but I weigh twice that. Thankfully, I gave up worrying about flab ages ago. One thing I'd not remembered is that Katherine's mother is also a librarian. So there's that.

Gender Queer: A Memoir - by Maia Kobabe

Note: The author of this work uses gender neutral Spivak Pronouns.

Topping the list of banned and challenged books for 2022 Kobabe's graphic memoir explores how e discovered eir identity as a nonbinary person starting as a toddler.

Although a late bloomer as a reader, as a teenager Kobabe discovered queer books at the library and began to read voraciously. E describes a feeling "as if lightning was coming from the pages...Electricity flowing directly into my palms" when reading gay sex scenes in the Fake Series of books by Sanami Matoh; and the Last Herald Mage Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey.

Like Alison Bechdel (who also wrote a queer graphic memor - Fun Home) Kobabe worked in eir college library, where e came out as bi-sexual for the first time. The college library is also a space where e tries sexting for the first time. Libraries are safe spaces to try new things.

As a cartoonist Kobabe taught one-day comics workshops to junior high students at local public libraries. Keenly aware of the current political climate, e ultimately decides not to share eir pronouns, nor share that e is nonbinary with the students. E questions this decision and wonders if e is doing a disservice to them, especially as e recognizes how much it would have meant to em if e had had a nonbinary or trans teacher in junior high. The importance of representation is a crucial theme of this work, and is one of the reasons censors want to keep others from reading it.

By far my favorite part of the book is a scene in which Kobabe meets eir cousin's new baby for the first time. Cousin Josh, and his wife, Faith ask what the baby should call his grown nonbinary relative. Kobabe responds "I don't know a good gender-neutral term for 'aunt'...Can I be his librarian? Or cartoonist?"

Find out more about this book at its author from the New York Times.

Class Act - by Jerry Craft

Jerry Craft's sequel to New Kid continues the story of friends Jordan and Drew at the prestigious Riverdale Academy Day School in the Bronx. Jordan and Drew have a hard time fitting in to the mostly white school. 

The Riverdale School's Morgan Library is "state of the art" at least that's what Principal Mr. Roche tells some potential students from the underserved Cardi De Academy. The students from Cardi De respond that their library "is six boxes of old books...five of them...on Martin Luther King". 

Jordan and Drew are asked by Librarian Miss Brickner to "help pick out diverse books for the library", they are initially eager to help but when they suggest that graphic novels be included she retorts that "graphic novels aren't real books". I always like to see a bit of metafiction in a book.

Both New Kid and Class Act have been challenged in a number of school districts across the country, most notably in Katy, Texas where an event with Craft was cancelled in 2021 after a parent complained that the books advocated Critical Race Theory (something that the author had never even heard of before).

 I picked this book up from a Little Free Library  with this cool sticker on it.

Attack of the Black Rectangles - by A.S. King

When Mac and his friends are assigned to read Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic in their sixth-grade lit circle they are interested in the story about a young girl who time travels to a World War II concentration camp. They are taken aback when they discover that two pages of the copies they've been given by their teacher have redacted passages. Several words have been blacked out with ink. They set out to find out who defaced their books, and what they were trying to hide. Finding out the original text was accomplished by locating a copy at the local bookstore. They had first tried the local public library but all copies were checked out. 

Mac and his comrades discover that their own teacher was responsible for the censorship. They are rightly insulted when they find out that some adults were concerned that they would be made uncomfortable by the references to the main character's breasts and chest. They point out that the book makes clear the horrors of the Holocaust and if they are able to handle this information they can most certainly handle reading words describing body parts.

There is a lot to this rather short novel. It is a story not only of censorship, but also of empowerment, and child agency. Mac and his classmates stage a protest, and show up at the school board meeting with prepared speeches in order to make their case. When I became a parent I was often surprised when I read information describing what my toddler, or preschooler, or school aged child, or middle schooler wasn't able to understand and think that my child didn't seem confused by those things. I would often think back to my own childhood remembering what I did understand at those ages. Kids really are smarter (and more determined) then society gives them credit for.

A final lesson Mac learns is that people are multi-dimensional. While he disagrees with his teacher on many issues he also recognizes that she does have his interests at heart. He has the same realization about his classmate Aaron with whom he generally does not get along, but finds is an ally in the fight against censorship.

Although fiction, the book is based on a true event, and references the book banning cases from York, Pennsylvania in 2021.

My husband and I listened to this as an audiobook. Our next listen will be The Devil's Arithmetic!

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West - by Gregory Maguire

I first tried to read this book twenty or so years ago, but the demands of taking care of a preschooler kept me from keeping up with this rather lengthy novel, so I abandoned it. I also reasoned (at the time) that it might make more sense once I read the entire "Oz" series. I came across a copy last summer at a used bookstore for $1 and decided to give it another try. It took about a month, but I made it through this time (although I didn't remember enough about the original Oz books for it to have made any difference in my understanding).

Maguire's adaptation is the story of Elphaba (aka The Wicked Witch of the West) - a misunderstood woman (and college roommate of Glinda). Much of the story surrounds a debate around the rights of Animals (who can talk), and animals (who cannot). It seemed rather prescient for a book written in 1995.

Several characters work in libraries. Elphaba works with Doctor Dillamond (a Goat) in a "lab and library". She also helps Doctor Dillamond with research at the Crage Hall Library, looking for evidence that Animals should have any restrictions placed upon them removed.

Another character (Boq) takes a job in the Three Queens Library "under the watchful eye of a titanic Rhinocerus, the head archival librarian". 

Ozma is identified in a number of ways, including "Librarian" who "did nothing but read genealogies for her whole life long". Other identities include

• Ozma the Mendacious
• Ozma the Warrior
• Ozma the Scarcely Beloved  
• Ozma the Bilious

There are other mentions of libraries throughout, making it clear that they were an inherent part of the Oz landscape.

"Future Library" from Margaret Atwood's Burning Questions collection

I have read many of Margaret Atwood's works, but there are many others that are still on my "To Be Read" list. While I would like to be able to read them all before I die, I know this will not be possible. As the first author invited to be part of Katie Paterson's Future Library project, a 100-year endeavor, not even Atwood herself will live to see her contribution published. Neither for that matter will Paterson. Paterson's project is a leap of faith. Each year between 2014-2114 different authors will be invited to submit their works to be published, printed on paper made from a forest growing in Norway, when the project ends. 

Atwood's short essay about the Future Library explores questions of Time Travel, language, and climate change. "Will any human beings be waiting to receive it? Will there be a 'Norway'? Will there be a 'forest'? Will there be a 'library'?" she asks, and offers hope that they will.

Since she wrote this piece in 2015 she could not have known that libraries would be under such a threat as they are today, only eight years later. I can only hope that the censorship contagion in the United States does not make its way to Norway. 

The Dissidents podcast - The Librarians are Not Okay

Last month I was invited to The Dissidents podcast to talk about libraries, librarians, and banned books. Click on the image below to listen. 

 The interview is about one and a half hours long. The short version is: Treat librarians with respect and don't ban books.

Our Missing Hearts - by Celeste Ng

This dystopian novel, reminiscent of The Handmaid's Tale, gives us a glimpse of what happens when prejudices go unchecked. As we watch the far right cycle through villanzing every marginalized group, (landing most recently on the LGBTQ+ community) this work is prescient in more ways than one.

In Our Missing Hearts Anti-Asian sentiment is sanctioned by the government through PACT (the Preserving American Cultures and Traditions Act). PACT also encourages citizens to report their neighbors for un-American activities (broadly defined) and allows great leeway in banning books. Children are removed from their homes and permanently re-placed if their parents are deemed to be un-American. Current news from Florida and Texas regarding trans children echoes this story line. Ng's book centers on a mixed race family: Asian-American mother Margaret; Caucasian father (Ethan); and their son Bird (aka Noah).

When Margaret's little-known (and apolitical) book of poetry unwittingly becomes a symbol of a protest movement Margaret goes on the lam leaving Bird and Ethan behind in hopes of keeping father and son together even as she cannot be with them. When asked about Margaret's whereabouts Bird and Ethan always answer that they do not know, and that she is no longer a part of the family.

There is much in this book about libraries and censorship. Although libraries exist they are largely empty (of people and books). Described as a "ghost town" the public library is still a sanctuary for Bird (and his friend Sadie). The librarian helps Bird to find a book based on only a vague description. They use an old card catalog to find it but the book has been removed from the library. As was his mother’s poetry book - Our Missing Hearts. The librarian tells him “We don’t burn books here this is America…we pulp them. She says his mother’s book was probably turned into toilet paper and wiped someone’s butt a long time ago. Although they do not traffic much in books, the librarians are still connecting people and information. "The brain of a librarian is a capacious place." 

The public librarians are part of a subversive group that provides information to parents whose children have been “re-placed” - surreptitiously passing notes between the pages of interlibrary loan books. The librarians also hide Sadie away from her foster family as she tries to reunite with her parents. Train and bus schedule information is provided to Bird at the library. The librarian tells him that she is only letting him know how to find the information: what he does with it is his business. 

Likewise classrooms are described with empty bookshelves because “books are outdated the minute they're published”. However, students are informed by their teachers that books haven’t been banned, obviously, because that would contradict the first amendment. Rather, the books have been removed so as not to expose students to harmful ideas. This is eerily reminiscent of a viral video that recently made the rounds online of an empty school library in Florida.

Ethan shelves books in a Harvard University library. A PhD, he used to teach linguistics there, but lost the job over Margaret's "politics".  As a linguist, Ethan is especially interested in word derivations. He enjoys explaining where words come from (in multiple languages) to his son. The book included an explanation about the derivation of the word library coming from the word for tree bark, something I had never known before.

You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey : Crazy Stories about Racism - by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar

Sisters Ruffin and Lamar grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. Their cringeworthy anecdotes about race and racism focus mainly on Lamar's experiences working there, but also about growing up in Omaha in the '80s and '90s. The audiobook is read by the authors and it is well worth a listen. The sisters laugh together and enjoy some easy banter as they tell their tales.

Of course any library tale will pique my interest. There was only one in this book, but it caused me to do a lot of thinking. It centered on Ruffin's elementary school library. A lover of arts and crafts, Ruffin borrowed a craft book that included instructions for making a Gollywog doll. She was unaware of the racist nature of the craft and innocently asked her mother about making one. Her mother's swift response included not only a call to the school librarian to complain, but also an admonishment to her daughter to use only the books they had at home from then on.

As I said, I had to think about this episode quite a bit to determine what to say about it, especially in light of the wave of book banning happening across the country. I will begin by saying that Ruffin's mother was perfectly within her rights to contact the school and complain about the book. Furthermore, schools should have processes in place for book reconsideration, and they in fact count on parents to bring books to their attention that may not belong in the collection. Not all book removal constitutes book banning. Books are discarded from libraries for a myriad of reasons. Perhaps they are out of date, worn out, or otherwise no longer appropriate for a particular audience or collection. "Weeding" is part of the process of keeping a library relevant.  

However, removal of individual titles, with cause, is not what we are witnessing in schools today. Instead hundreds of books that the censors have not read are being summarily removed from classrooms and school libraries (and indeed public libraries). Those who would remove books from libraries under the guise of "parental rights" are full of shit. They already have the right to request that their child not have access to certain books. Meanwhile, they are preventing other parents who would like their children to have access from doing so. 

I was surprised that Ruffin's mother told her daughter not to use the library any more over this one incident. Of course any parent can contact their child's school and request that they not be allowed to check out specific books (or any books for that matter), and they are also within their rights to tell their own child not to use the library any more. I would argue, however, that students should be given (relatively) unrestricted access to their school and public libraries. Young people need to be able to explore difficult topics at their own pace. Librarians, teachers, and parents can be guides but ultimately everyone should be able to access the information they need when they need it - without judgement.  See my post Why I Let my Daughter Read Twilight Books for additional thoughts on this. (Note that the post is 10 years old and my "daughter" now identifies as non-binary and uses he/him pronouns).

You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey is the One Book One Community selection for the Bridgewaters for summer 2023.

Playing with Myself - by Randy Rainbow (yes, that's his real name)

 In this house we believe...

that if a gay man writes a memoir it is best to "read" it as an audiobook, read by the author himself. Listening to Rainbow's work solidified this belief. We laughed, we cried, we felt.

Of course my favorite part of his heartfelt memoir was hearing that the author (as part of his work as a cruise ship performer) also checked out books to passengers from the ship's library. His name tag read "social staff and entertainment".

I don't wear a name tag at my job as a university librarian. If required I would insist on having it read "Puddin' Tame". Since the university prides itself at respecting preferred names I imagine I could actually get away with it.

The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon - by Bill McKibbin

 

It is certainly trendy to blame everything that is wrong with the world on my generation ("Okay, Boomer") and, to be fair, there is plenty of blame to go around, but as McKibben points out we Boomers were born during a rather long span (the years 1946-1964) - a population over about 70 million people which "means you're making generalizations about populations larger than France or England". We can look at Zoomers (those born between 1997-2012 - a population which includes my own child) and find fault with their addiction to fast fashion and shake our heads at the problems of sustainability it causes. At the same time I can also see that they are leading the way in seeking racial justice, fair wages, and health care reform. 

McKibben grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, just up the road a piece from my own home in the Bay State. He describes his childhood home as "like a child's drawing of a suburban home: a square block with a door and a window on the ground floor and two windows on the story above". I expect that the second story in the "child's drawing" was triangle shaped. This describes my own house as well. McKibben uses the house as a starting point in the book and moves from there to descriptions of his schooling, first jobs, and the history of the area to explore some bigger questions on race and the common good.

McKibben is clearly a fan of libraries and indicates that he has made good use of them throughout his life. Early in the work he describes a lecture given in 1970 by Ralph Nader at the town library in which he [Nader]

blast[ed] both air pollution and hot dogs, which he called "innovations to relieve food companies of all their crud". 

I've always been a fan of Nader and voted for him in the epic presidential election of 2000.

Further McKibben describes walking past the town library in 1971 (where he was "already a regular in the downstairs children's room") as part of a protest of the Vietnam War, led by another later presidential hopeful John Kerry, leader of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

As a high school student McKibben got a job giving tours of the Lexington Battle Green. Donning a tricorn hat he regaled tourists with tales of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. In order to get such a job 

you needed to pass a test...administered by the venerable rector of the local Episcopal church...He handed you a reading list, and you repaired to the town library's local history room for long days of study.

In one passage he demonstrates the importance of libraries through their absence. Eighteenth century Lexingtonians, according to Richard Kollen "the most determined chronicler of the town's religious history", would have 

attended an average of seven thousand sermons in a lifetime, that meant they heard fifteen thousand hours of preaching from their pastor. (And of course that was pretty much all heard, in an era with no theater, no library, no radio, no internet).

It would seem that today's far right politicians and Christian Nationalists would prefer that we return to this as they remove books from libraries and attempt to censor legislators who speak out for an end to gun violence, and basic rights for transgender people. 

Meanwhile, McKibben tells us that people's interest in libraries, theater going, and even sports has been waning in recent years.

Everything that the affluent possess in private has swelled in size... and what we share in common has been allowed to decay.

 This is evident in California's passage of Proposition 13 in 1978

which sharply limited the ability of cities and towns to assess taxes. Local property tax revenues dropped 60 percent overnight, and though the state filled some of the gap, services like education suffered immediate hits from which they never recovered...They cut maintenance, assistant principals, librarians...in south LA, or the north-eastern San Fernando Valley the library opens rarely...

City and town libraries suffered as well with summer and after-school programs cut. Some branches were closed, or hours had their hours shortened.

Finally, McKibben gives props to "Lexington's superb Cary Memorial Library" in providing access to back copies of the Lexington Minuteman which allowed him to do the research for this book.

Post Script:

To answer the question posed by the subtitle of this work ("What the hell happened?") I submit that we really should have listened to Bill McKibben back in 1989 when he wrote The End of Nature. But we didn't. 

National Library Week - There's More to the Story

This year we’re going to party like it’s 1981! That’s because book banning has never been so popular. After Ronald Reagan was elected president we saw the rise of the Moral Majority headed by Jerry Falwell. Book banning, in order to protect children, became a popular pastime of the religious right. As a high school student I found the book banners laughably naïve. What on earth did they think they were protecting us from? 

I kicked off National Library Week a few days early this year by watching Judy Blume Forever, a new documentary available on Amazon Prime, over the weekend. I highly recommend this film for all. Fans will be thrilled with the way eighty-five year-old Blume is honored by young and old, authors, readers, and librarians alike. Those who are not already fans will surely want to find out more by reading some of her books. My almost-sixty-year-old husband has called her a “national treasure” now that he has not only seen the new film, but also listened to her most classic work Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret on audio, and watched her in some Zoom discussions during the pandemic. 

The American Library Association (ALA) declared April 24 as National Right to Read Day, so as a follow-up to the movie the ALA and Prime video sponsored a Zoom event featuring a panel discussion with Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok (directors and producers of Judy Blume Forever); Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada (ALA President); Suzanne Nossel (CEO at PEN America) and Pat R. Scales (author and retired librarian). The panel was moderated by Chris Finan (Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Censorship). Pardo and Wolchok discussed the villainizing of Blume and her books during the 1980s, explaining that they expected it to be a small part of the film, but that they had no idea what was still to come. In one segment of the film we see a clip of Blume on the television show Crossfire with Pat Buchanan. Buchanan, who has clearly not read her books, attacks Blume, repeating the same sentence from her book Deenie. Finan mentioned the segment during the panel discussion, letting audience members who might have been too young to remember Buchanan, that he was a “blockhead from the eighties”. I couldn’t have said it better myself!

Judy Blume shows off some books in her bookstore Books & Books in Key West, FL

One of the panelists mentioned fear as a parental motivation for the sudden rise in book challenges. As I said, even in the eighties the whole thing seemed rather simple-minded, but today when we know that children can find whatever they want on the internet, and as children deal with real issues such as gun violence, abject hunger, and church-sanctioned pedophilia, I can only see this new wave of book banning as a deflection. Parents cannot control what is available online, but they can try to control what books are in their public schools and libraries, no matter how futile it may be.

The theme of this year's Library Week is "There's More to the Story". And, in fact, I have a lot more to say. Listen to me on The Dissident's podcast talking about libraries, library work, and book banning for National Library Week. 

Over the Edge - the movie

Sometime in the mid 2000s my town decided that the public library wasn't important enough to fund. It closed completely for a few weeks, and then reopened for about 15 hours a week. I can't remember how long that went on, but I believe within a year the library was back to (almost) its previous level of service. It is now open six days (55.5 hours) a week. During the period that it was closed the town powers-that-be also determined that shutting down the town skateboard park was advisable, leaving not much to do in the center of town. Not surprisingly (to me anyway) within the next few weeks the local paper reported on a mini crime wave of petty theft and vandalism in town. Of course public safety had been spared when the town voted on the budget, which turned out to be a good thing since it was then needed more than ever (can you hear my sarcasm here). To those who would defund libraries and recreation in order to ensure funding of public safety I say this: libraries are public safety, as are recreation centers and parks. 

This 1979 film (Matt Dillon's debut) illustrates what happens when a town decides that business is more important than pleasure. Teens in New Granada have nowhere to go after school except a sad little recreation center located inside a depressing-looking quonset hut. Exactly one adult runs the place. Business owners (and police) determine that the rec center isn't good "optics" when investors for a new Industrial Park come to town and ask to have it shut down for the day. When the director refuses she is fired and the center is shut down for good. The restless teens turn to sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, and increased vandalism of public and private property to fill their free time. Tragedy strikes when a fourteen-year-old boy (played by Dillon) is killed by the sheriff. Things go from bad to worse from there. There is some indication that the film is based on real events, but it is unclear exactly where, when, or how much.

The film features a 1970s PSA in which students are admonished not to destroy things. Within the PSA is a scene in which some students vandalize a library (among other things). This presaged the decimation of the New Granada Junior High School library (among other things) by the town's (now very angry) teens.

I remember watching this film on cable television sometime in the early 1980s. I don't think I'd seen it since. Talking about it with my husband afterward we discussed that while the motivations of the adults (and the children) were clear, the film really only scratched the surface of any of the characters' feelings. It really missed an opportunity for insight, but at least there was a lot of blowing things up.

What's the T? The Guide to All Things Trans and/or NonBinary - by Juno Dawson

Juno Dawson's book This Book is Gay is often in the news as it is frequently challenged and appears on lists of banned books. I imagine we will be hearing more about this work as well in the coming months. Dawson, a trans woman, speaks frankly of her own experience while offering support and advice to other trans and nonbinary folx.

While her intended audience is other trans, gender queer, or questioning people she also speaks to cisgender people, and has a specific chapter for people like me "Advice for Parents and Caregivers". She offers that each reader has their own purpose for reading her book and provides a list of possible reasons why one might have picked it up including (among others) that "Maybe it's in your school library and it has a nice cover". 

In her chapter "Doctor! Doctor! I Think I'm Transgender!" she offers some advice to young trans and nonbinary people seeking treatment

For people under eighteen, I always think the first port of call is an adult you trust. This could be a teacher, librarian, school counselor or family doctor.

I hope that everyone knows that librarians will provide information on any topic without judgement, and that every young person knows a librarian whom they trust. However, in today's political climate that includes a rash of anti-trans legislation, book challenges that seek to remove all LGBTQ literature from school and libraries  ("nice covers" not withstanding), and the targeting of educators (including school librarians) who provide such information, I am afraid that finding such trusted adults and reliable information will be more difficult than ever. 

Dawson reminds readers that trans people have always been part of our history and suggests that we learn their stories. "When transphobic people accuse you of being 'trendy' or act like being trans is something new, be ready to open the library. Reading is what? Fundamental".

It's Arbor Day Charlie Brown - by Charles M. Schulz

 

My husband (James) was recently named to our town's Tree Committee (yes, that's a thing). Our adult child told him that there was a Peanuts television special about Arbor Day that he would probably be interested in. He found a copy for purchase on DVD and we await its arrival. Meanwhile he also found a used copy of the book version for purchase and had it sent to our house. (I also discovered that our local public library has a copy on DVD; I always check the library before buying.)

This full-color comic features Sally being humiliated when asked in class to tell what Arbor Day is and responds that it's the "day that all the ships come sailing into the arbor". Assigned to write a report about Arbor Day she seeks Linus' help who suggests a trip to the library where he's sure there are "some books about Arbor Day". What follows are several pages of images of Sally and Linus doing research at the library, as well as some shots of Snoopy and Woodstock laughing at a book on dog obedience training, and playing with the photocopier, which gets them kicked out.

I look forward to celebrating Arbor Day  is year on April 28. I guess that's what my elementary school was celebrating in the 70s when they used to give us saplings to take home and plant. Otherwise, I don't recall ever recognizing it.

Project Hail Mary - by Andy Weir

Dr. Ryland Grace wakes up from a coma not remembering who or where he is. He is able to surmise that he is on a space ship, but does not know why. As his memory gradually returns he realizes that his job is to save Earth, and all the Earthlings on it. As he continues his journey he meets an alien space ship and befriends Rocky, a spider-like alien, whose planet is likewise doomed unless he and Grace can figure out how to communicate and cooperate in vanquishing the dreaded Astrophage that threatens both of their planets.

In order to save the world the astronauts had a wealth of information at their disposal, namely the entirety of the Library of Congress in digital format! Rather than trying to guess what might be needed the powers that be determined that everything would be available to the heroes, copyright be damned! Good thing, too, because Grace made good use of it.

Science fiction as a genre is not something I typically seek out, although a perusal through my blog indicates that I have, in fact, read a fair amount of it. I would probably not have read Project Hail Mary had it not been the One Book One Community pick for Bridgewater this spring. James and I listened to the audio version, narrated by Ray Porter who was one of the best voice actors I've heard in the myriad books I've listened to. 

Bay Country: Reflections on the Chesapeake - by Tom Horton

The New York Times pull quote on the cover of this work states that "Fans of Aldo Leopold, John McPhee, and Sigur Olson won't be disappointed...Mr. Horton displays a stunning command of the language." I will admit to not having ever heard of Sigurd Olson; however, I have read two of McPhee's books (one for my Celebrating the States project some years ago), and more I recently blogged about Leopold's A Sand County Almanac . I agree that like McPhee and Leopold, Horton has a "stunning command of the language". Furthermore, as in Leopold's work, libraries in Horton's book are used metaphorically, as a way to understand (read) nature. 

The roots of corn we seldom notice, but ought to heed; for they speak as eloquently as the golden ears and luxuriant foliage topside, but a different message indeed. Pull up a stalk sometime and the first thing that will strike you is how easy it was to do, and how scanty are the underpinnings of so statuesque a plant. Pushing up its glossy green regimens across a thousand square miles of Maryland, this giant, wild grass, bred into the aristocrat of cultivated cereals, epitomizes the pride and problems of our agriculture - and of more than agriculture - I venture there is more profound social commentary in a cornfield than in some libraries, if one is willing to dig for it.

With a coring device [scientists] extract gray-brown cylinders from the bay's bottom, a distance down through the muck of several feet, but a journey back through time of a thousand years. Grain by grain, layer by layer, a few micrometers a year, the sediments washing off the 64,000-square-mile watershed that extends from New York to West Virginia have compiled a rich natural historical library, awaiting only a generations of readers skilled enough to translate it.

...public commitment to restoring the bay is running at an all-time high. Throughout the watershed, people and their elected leaders are gabbling excitedly about the prospects, as a flock of geese gets raucous just before lifting off for new feeding grounds. The challenge is infectious, the script outline looks promising; but just as yet the library at the bottom of the bay reads caution. 

Horton's soothing prose made this love letter to the Chesapeake Bay (and all of Maryland) a perfect read aloud for this Marylander and her husband. The book was originally published in 1987, the year we were married - in Maryland!

The Librarian of Auschwitz - by Antonio Iturbe

People like to share memes with me about book collecting and book hoarding. These are meant to be humorous, but I generally don't find them especially funny. I do have quite a few books in my house, but I do not let them take over. I often read books from the library and then return them, or when I buy them I have a "one in, one out" policy. Purged books go to free book shelves, or are donated to libraries. They are shared. Books are meant to be read and shared, not simply put on display. I thought a lot about all of this as I read The Librarian of Auschwitz. This novel is based on the real story of Dita Kraus who, along with her family was sent to the family camp at Auschwitz-Birknenau during the Holocaust. Although she was only 14 years old Dita was asked to be the clandestine librarian at the clandestine school run by fellow prisoner Fredy Hirsch. She took on the task although the punishment for keeping the books would surely have been death had she been discovered. The eight tattered books entrusted to Dita's care were shared among the classes at the school, and otherwise hidden beneath a floor board. All the books had value, even the Russian grammar book, written in Cyrillic which no one in the camp read.

Early in the book the forbidden works are described as dangerous although they do not have "a sharp point, a blade or heavy end". 

Throughout history all dictators, tyrants, and oppressors, whatever their ideology - whether Aryan, black, oriental, Arab, Slav or any other racial background; whether defenders of popular revolutions, or the privileges of upper classes, or God's mandate, or martial law - have had one thing in common: the vicious persecution of books. Books are extremely dangerous; they make people think.

Even among the prisoners there was concern about what was to be found in some of the books. Fredy Hirsch tried to warn Dita off reading The Good Soldier Svejk, telling her that it was "not appropriate for children, especially girls". To which our heroine responds "Do you honestly believe that after observing on a daily basis the dozens of people entering the gas chambers...[that] what I read in a novel might shock me?". The same book is demonized by some other prisoners, and again Dita puts them in their place.

Reading this in light of the unprecedented book-banning that we are seeing in the United States today makes it especially chilling. Concerns about what someone might find in a book seem rather ridiculous in a country where children are gunned down in their classrooms and by police. 

In addition to the eight books, the school also runs a "library on legs". Similar to the human books in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, people who have memorized stories share them verbally.

Before being sent to the Auschwitz Dita and her family were first sent to the ghetto in Terezín, a place with a library-on-wheels, a trolley pushed through the streets which was generally "warmly welcomed" although the "books were often stolen, and not always so they could be read. They were also used as toilet paper or as fuel for the stoves".

One of the books entrusted to Dita is H.G. Wells The Time Machine. Dita determines that Wells was right, time machines do exist, in the form of books. Furthermore, she realizes that books can take us "much farther than any pair of shoes".

Carry On - by Rainbow Rowell

I've read a lot of reviews of books by Rainbow Rowell, but until now I had not read any of her books, so when I saw this one at a Little Free Library at a neighbor's house I picked it up. 

As I started to read it, I thought it was simply a Harry Potter clone (a story about an orphan who doesn't know he's a wizard, who goes to a school for magical folks) but I figured there was probably more to it than that and did a bit of research. I learned that this is in fact some metafiction on Rowell's part. She explains how she came to write the book in an author's note at the end of the book. She begins her note with the following information

If you've read my book Fangirl, you know Simon Snow began as a fictional character in that novel.

A fictional-fictional character. Kind of an amalgam and descendant of a hundred other fictional Chosen Ones.

In Fangirl, Simon is the hero of a series of children's adventure novels written by Gemma T. Leslie - and the subject of much fanfiction written by the main character, Cath.

Rowell goes on to say that while she was able to let go of Cath and her world, she could not let go of Simon Snow, so she wrote her own story about him. 

And so I read the story on its own terms.

When Simon Snow returns to Watford for his final year of school he discovers that his nemesis (and roommate) Baz is missing. Baz's mother was once the headmistress of Watford, but was killed when Baz was very young. The ghost of Baz's mother comes looking for him in his dorm room, but finds only Simon and so she leaves a message with him asking that Baz avenge her death. When Baz does return he and Simon make a truce in order to work together to find the killer (and the expected love story ensues). Meanwhile the entire magic world is fighting an enigmatic monster called the Humdrum who is creating "dead zones" across Great Britain where magic does not work. The Mage (current headmaster at Watford) is spearheading the fight by conducting warrant-less searches of wizard homes, raiding their personal libraries looking for information to find out who is working with the Humdrum. (Books are referred to as "treasures".) The Mage insists that those who have "nothing to hide" have nothing to worry about. Baz is worried because he knows that his family keeps "banned books and dark objects". The Mage banned some books (and words!) after Baz's mother died. Simon's friend Penny is likewise concerned about what the Mage and his goons might find at her family's house. Simon insists that her family wouldn't have anything, but Penny isn't sure.

You know my mum. 'Information wants to be free.' 'There's no such thing as a bad thought.' Our library is practically as big as Watford's and better stocked. If you wanted to find something dangerous there, I'm sure you could. 

Baz notices that the books in his mother's library are out of order. This is concerning because his mother always had them sorted by subject. Baz "was always allowed to touch her books...to read any book, as long as [he] put it back in its place and promised to ask in something confused or frightened him". Well, imagine that. Rather than censoring what he could read, Baz's mother "parented" him instead.  

In addition to their home libraries Simon and his classmates use the school library regularly. This despite that fact that "most of the magickal books have been removed from the Watford library. It is not okay, however, that Simon "snuck a few bound volumes  [of The Magickal Record - "the closest thing magicians have to a newspaper...out of the library", even if he does believe his reasons are valid.